Die Dis cus si on Pape rs die nen einer mög lichst schnel len Ver brei tung von neue ren For schungs arbei ten des ZEW. Die Bei trä ge lie gen in allei ni ger Ver ant wor tung der Auto ren und stel len nicht not wen di ger wei se die Mei nung des ZEW dar.Dis cus si on Papers are inwten ded to make results of ZEW research prompt ly avai la ble to other eco no mists in order to encou ra ge dis cus si on and sug gesti ons for revi si ons. The aut hors are sole ly respon si ble for the con tents which do not neces sa ri ly repre sent the opi ni on of the ZEW. Non-technical SummaryDriven by the high energy demand for electricity, heating, and cooling, the building sector is a major consumer of fossil fuels and a major emitter of greenhouse gases in Germany. Almost a third of the total energy produced is consumed in residential buildings, primarily for space and water heating. From a purely engineering perspective, the potential to reduce both Germany's fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions by replacing heating equipment and improving thermal insulation of the existing building stock is considerable. The German government seeks to exploit this potential in order to achieve its climate protection goals and to secure future energy supply. In addition to regulations that specify energy efficiency requirements for existing buildings being renovated or reconstructed, such as the Energy Savings Ordinance, there are public funding programs in place that provide grants and low-interest loans for energy retrofitting activities. However, the political success in terms of raising the retrofit rate has been rather limited so far. This indicates that economic, technical, and behavioral factors influencing retrofit decisions are still not well understood and not properly addressed by current policy design. In this paper, based on 2009 survey data of more than 400 house owners in Germany, we identify key drivers and barriers for the adoption of building energy retrofits. Our results underline the importance of financial factors in this context. It turns out that house owners for whom energy retrofits are profitable in terms of energy cost savings and payback period, and for whom there is a favorable opportunity, such as a heating system that needs replacement or a building envelope that is due for renovation, are more likely to undertake retrofit activities. The latter point seems to be of particular importance in order to explain the persistent low retrofit rate in Germany. Our results suggest that most house owners wait until building components are approaching the end of their useful life, before considering options for renovation or replacement. Through simulations, we further show that professional energy advice can provide strong incentives for house owners to retrofit their homes. In view of problems related to other policy options, energy advice thus seems to be worthy of being supported by public funding in order to stimulate building energy retrofits in an effective and cost-efficient way. Das Wichtigste in Kürze A...

Die Dis cus si on Pape rs die nen einer mög lichst schnel len Ver brei tung von neue ren For schungs arbei ten des ZEW. Die Bei trä ge lie gen in allei ni ger Ver ant wor tung der Auto ren und stel len nicht not wen di ger wei se die Mei nung des ZEW dar.Dis cus si on Papers are inten ded to make results of ZEW research prompt ly avai la ble to other eco no mists in order to encou ra ge dis cus si on and sug gesti ons for revi si ons. The aut hors are sole ly respon si ble for the con tents which do not neces sa ri ly repre sent the opi ni on of the ZEW.Download this ZEW Discussion Paper from our ftp server:ftp://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp09058.pdf Non-technical SummaryMotorised individual transport strongly contributes to global CO 2 emissions, due to its intensive usage of fossil fuels. Current political efforts addressing this issue (i.e. emission performance standards in the EU) are directed towards car manufacturers. Concretely, the whole car industry has to comply with an average of 120 grams of CO 2 per kilometre between 2012 and 2015, with interim targets. The long-term target for 2020 is an average of 95 grams of CO 2 per kilometre (by way of comparison, passenger cars currently emit 160 grams of CO 2 per kilometre on average). Manufacturers who exceed the specified standard will have to pay fines.From an economic point of view this measure has to be regarded critically. But given the present EU regulation the question arises as to what the optimal strategy for car manufacturers is. Exceeding the emission standard generates costs (through the payment of fines) -but so does complying with the emission standard (through costly abatement measures). Depending on the amount consumers are willing to pay for a specific reduction in CO 2 emissions it could well be optimal for manufacturers to exceed the mandatory standard.This paper focuses on the demand side. It examines whether CO 2 emissions per kilometre is a relevant attribute in car choices. Based on a stated preference experiment among potential car buyers from Germany, different mixed logit specifications are estimated. In addition, distributions of willingness to pay measures for an abatement of CO 2 emissions are obtained. The results suggest that the emissions performance of a car matters substantially, but its consideration varies heavily across the sampled population. In particular, some evidence on gender, age and education effects on climate concerns is provided. So, we find that women are willing to pay more for an abatement of CO 2 than men, people under 45 years more than people 45 and older, and people who possess a higher education entrance qualification more than those who do not. Abstract Motorised individual transport strongly contributes to global CO 2 emissions, due to its intensive usage of fossil fuels. Current political efforts addressing this issue (i.e. emission performance standards in the EU) are directed towards car manufacturers. This paper focuses on the demand side. It examines whether CO 2 emissions per kilometre is a rel...

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Die Dis cus si on Pape rs die nen einer mög lichst schnel len Ver brei tung von neue ren For schungs arbei ten des ZEW. Die Bei trä ge lie gen in allei ni ger Ver ant wor tung der Auto ren und stel len nicht not wen di ger wei se die Mei nung des ZEW dar.Dis cus si on Papers are inwten ded to make results of ZEW research prompt ly avai la ble to other eco no mists in order to encou ra ge dis cus si on and sug gesti ons for revi si ons. The aut hors are sole ly respon si ble for the con tents which do not neces sa ri ly repre sent the opi ni on of the ZEW. Non-technical SummaryDriven by the high energy demand for electricity, heating, and cooling, the building sector is a major consumer of fossil fuels and a major emitter of greenhouse gases in Germany. Almost a third of the total energy produced is consumed in residential buildings, primarily for space and water heating. From a purely engineering perspective, the potential to reduce both Germany's fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions by replacing heating equipment and improving thermal insulation of the existing building stock is considerable. The German government seeks to exploit this potential in order to achieve its climate protection goals and to secure future energy supply. In addition to regulations that specify energy efficiency requirements for existing buildings being renovated or reconstructed, such as the Energy Savings Ordinance, there are public funding programs in place that provide grants and low-interest loans for energy retrofitting activities. However, the political success in terms of raising the retrofit rate has been rather limited so far. This indicates that economic, technical, and behavioral factors influencing retrofit decisions are still not well understood and not properly addressed by current policy design. In this paper, based on 2009 survey data of more than 400 house owners in Germany, we identify key drivers and barriers for the adoption of building energy retrofits. Our results underline the importance of financial factors in this context. It turns out that house owners for whom energy retrofits are profitable in terms of energy cost savings and payback period, and for whom there is a favorable opportunity, such as a heating system that needs replacement or a building envelope that is due for renovation, are more likely to undertake retrofit activities. The latter point seems to be of particular importance in order to explain the persistent low retrofit rate in Germany. Our results suggest that most house owners wait until building components are approaching the end of their useful life, before considering options for renovation or replacement. Through simulations, we further show that professional energy advice can provide strong incentives for house owners to retrofit their homes. In view of problems related to other policy options, energy advice thus seems to be worthy of being supported by public funding in order to stimulate building energy retrofits in an effective and cost-efficient way. Das Wichtigste in Kürze A...